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Analysis of Skeletons Reveals Harsh Punishment in Ancient Egypt

Egyptian kings and pharaohs conquered entire nations, but if a person stole so much as an animal hide he could be whipped with 100 lashes and stabbed five times in the back… and then be sent back to work.

Archaeologists studying skeletons of people buried in Amarna’s humble commoners’ cemetery have speculated five men with wounds to their shoulder blades were punished in this way. A wall carving from ancient Egypt spells out the punishment for stealing animal hides, but researchers did not know if the penalty was actually carried out, as reported by USA Today .

The alleged crimes of the men in question, who were in middle age at the time of their deaths, are not known, nor are their names or identities. But if the stab wounds on their shoulder blades were indeed punishment, they probably were able to return to work; an important consideration in Amarna, a labor-intensive city where workers were mustered to build huge temples and palaces for Akhenaten, the pharaoh who imposed a new religion on Egypt.

This stone relief of the ancient Egyptian city of Amarna shows Akhenaten as a sphinx with Aten the sun god illuminating him and his offering. (Photo by Hans Ollerman/ Wikimedia Commons )

While studying skeletons from Amarna cemetery, archaeologist Gretchen Dabbs of Southern Illinois University and her colleagues found that the everyday people there had many hardships, including an insufficient diet and hard labor , USA Today said. She and her team published their findings in the International Journal of Paleopathology .

While life was hard for all laborers in Egypt, it was especially hard in Amarna, which Pharaoh Akhenaten had built about 3,300 years ago and dedicated to Aten, the sun god. Workers there rushed to construct stone temples and palaces for Aten and for royalty and other nobility.

Akhenaten, Nefertiti and their children bask in the rays of the sun, Aten, a god that Akhenaten raised above all others. (Photo by Gerbil/ Wikimedia Commons )

The regular folks buried in the commoners’ cemetery had high rates of joint disease, possibly from lifting and carrying heavy loads. Their skeletons also show signs of malnutrition-related diseases, including scurvy.

It has also been reported that more than 90% of the deceased in a sample of skeletons excavated at the North Tombs Cemetery in 2015 were between the ages of seven and twenty-five at their time of death. Most of them were under fifteen. The majority of the teens in the sample had been victims of severe injuries and degenerative conditions associated with hard working in unhealthy conditions. There are speculations that the young workers may have been the children of slaves or captured in order to build the pharaoh’s city. Researchers believe many of the young workers died due to the inhumane conditions.

Dabbs and her colleagues also noticed nearly 10 years ago that some bodies from the Amarna commoners’ cemetery had a gash in the bones of the shoulder blade, as if someone stood behind them and injured them. It is unlikely the wounds were from either falls or battle.

“But the gashes turned out to be a good fit for a punishment described in the ancient texts. One ancient Egyptian fable tells of a thief who steals an ox and is punished with 100 blows and five wounds,” USA Today said. “A royal decree describes a similar fate for officials who commandeer workers for a construction project, and ancient Egyptian tax dodgers were beaten while lying face-down on the ground, just as those in the Amarna cemetery were stabbed from behind.”

As harsh as 100 lashes and five gashes may seem, these men may not have had it as bad as some criminals in ancient Egypt . Some people were put to death for their crimes, including grave robbing. Some were beaten, some had their noses, ears, hands or tongues cut off for a variety of crimes. According to Facts on File , women who committed adultery had their noses cut off to ruin their looks so they wouldn’t do it again. Most women in ancient Egypt were dealt with more harshly than men as in other ancient cultures. “A man caught in adultery with a married woman received a beating as a penalty, usually a thousand strokes with a stick,” the site says. “However, if a man raped a freeborn woman, he was castrated.”

One man of the 25th Dynasty of the seventh century BC is believed to have been buried alive for robbing graves.

An overarching code of law for ancient Egypt has not been found, but these punishments and other facts about the law are known from funerary documents, court manuscripts and some other writings. Even so, after Upper and Lower Egypt were united, around 2925 BC, the people had a comprehensive system of law, says Facts on File. There were laws around murder, theft, grave robbing and necrophilia.

Dabbs told USA Today it is possible the punishment of stabbing in the shoulder blades was meted out only in Amarna.

Featured image: Depiction of punishment in ancient Egypt (akhepedia.com).

Mark

Mark is a Writer for Ancient-Origins. He has a bachelor of arts in journalism and is a former newspaper and magazine writer and copy editor who's long been interested in anthropology, mythology and ancient history. His hobbies are writing and drawing.

Comments

Maybe not in the US and Europe, but in many countries of the middle and near East they do do such punishments, even the far East - remember the kid who got flogged? And how about the various Americans, Europeans and Canadians who variously hiked across the wrong border, were caught preaching Christianity, handed out literature, tried educating girls and were punished, or how about the women who get raped and are executed by stoning while the man gets a tiny slap on the wrist because the women really can't prove rape, or the honor killings, and the kidnappings by the various jihadist groups of young girls for 'marriage' and the boys as cannon fodder.

[Or to be honest, I gave up a lot of my gaming because as a female I would get threats of being 'swatted' because I am female and the baby boy asshats don't like competent female gamers and developers.]

Workers today are not physically tortured, women's noses not cut off, in that scale today, and civilized countries make those things illegal....you know, like not allowing the cutting off of heads. They actually used captives of war as slave labor. You don't know history, and make PC assertions in ignorance. Common people worked their own land or made things to sell at market. God didn't want kings. He was to be King, and rulers to rule by His will. But people chose kings, and as politicians today, riches and power went to their head....as God knew it would. They taxed the people, immigrants paid tribute to show their allegiance to stay in the land.

John O, did you miss the bit about them being thieves and criminals? Or were you in too big a rush to romanticise your mythological 'oh-so-oppressed-worker'? In reality they probably wouldn't eat without the employment of the rich and industrious whom you vilify.

So really then, not much has changed ? workers today are still abused, punished, and those that are unable to work can even die because their benefits have been cut. The rich have always punished the workers, you know, those people that build their palaces, houses, and work to make them richer.

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